A universal serial bus (USB) port is architecturally configured to communicate directly to the underlying firmware that operates a computer. When a USB device is connected to a computer, protocols are run at a level below any computer firewalls or other anti-malware software shields that can be placed on the computer. As a result, USB devices have become a common mechanism for propagation of malicious software, making it possible to infect a computer that is not even connected to the Internet. For example, USB thumb drives are inherently insecure, and as such, malicious code and/or attacks can be inserted into a computer before any kind of anti-virus protection can detect such attacks. There are currently no available ways to detect a malicious USB device before it has done damage, and often, it is impossible to tell that the damage has been done.
The USB port has become a ubiquitous mechanism for interfacing a device to a computer. As such, simply removing the USB port can cripple the usefulness of a computer. While USB drivers on a computer can be removed, this would also cripple the computer in many ways, as modern operating systems rely on USB drivers to provide boot and operating system load paths. Removing USB drivers would also present the danger that a USB port that has been so diminished will be restored during an update or repair.
Accordingly, a technique of defending against malicious devices as a part of the basic computer/server hardware architecture is needed.